Comparison of alkaline pulping with steam explosion for glucose production from rice straw

Agricultural residues, such as rice straw, are renewable, largely unused, and abundantly available resources. They contain cellulose and hemicellulose, which could be used to produce ethanol and many other value-added products. The current research investigates the utilization of rice straw as a lignocellulosic biomass feedstock to produce a value-added product. Investigation was carried to convert the rice straw into glucose which can be further fermented to produce ethanol. Different pretreatment methods, such as chemical pretreatment process using alkaline pulping and steam explosion were applied in this study to pretreat the lignocellulosic biomass. A Spezyme CP® cellulase enzyme was used in the experiment to hydrolyze the pretreated material into glucose. The total reducing sugars produced from the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was measured by the dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method. The data from the enzyme hydrolysis time study were analyzed to provide information on enzyme hydrolysis rates. The results indicated that 28.9–58.4 g/L of glucose can be produced from rice straw depending on the pretreatment method.